"There's always going to be a disadvantage against a more experienced player," said Patton, a second-team all-Atlantic 10 Conference pick as a freshman. "Coming in, I had no expectations. I'm here for fun. But, as defending champion, there's a little more pressure on her."

Patton passed the 100-win milestone last season at Xavier, and pushed her total to 103 with a 19-12 singles record as the No. 4 player and 20-7 as part of the No. 2 doubles team. She had just one singles loss against Big East competition, and closed her junior season with seven wins in a row, adding two at the Big East Championships.

Patton and her doubles partner beat the 40th-ranked team from Indiana to start the spring season. They won 12 straight matches from Nov. 1 to March 5. She has experience rising up to the level of competition. Soutar, an instructor at Cincinnati Country Club, suggested that Patton will need that Thursday. "Marie is very consistent. She hits a lot of balls back, and forces you into mistakes" said Soutar, a 2013 Lakota West graduate. "She has very nice strokes, and she has a great overhand. I would say smart is the way she plays."

The champ said she feels strong. "(Soutar) is a nice player. I thought she played great, and I had to be on," said Matrka. She is going for her sixth singles title and 10th Met crown overall.

Meeting in Thursday's other 6 p.m. semifinal are former and incoming Xavier players Kaitlyn Zinn and Amina Ismail, the No. 2 seed.

Ismail, a recent Kings graduate, eliminated former Miami University standout Erica Echko, 6-2, 6-2. Zinn outlasted 2013 Met semifinalist Aliza Williams, 6-1, 4-6, 6-3, in the only match of the tournament to go three sets. Ismail was hoping to play Williams, her doubles partner, in the semifinals. But Zinn, who starred at Loveland and graduated from Xavier in 2010, upset those plans.

For the first time in several years, the top eight men's seeds played for the right to advance to Thursday's 6 p.m. semifinals. Xavier's No. 7 Zachary Mueck ended the run by the favorites with a 6-0, 6-4 win over No. 4 Jimmy Roebker, a recent XU grad. He plays former Musketeer and current XU assistant coach Doug Matthews, a two-time Met singles champion, Thursday. Matthews, seeded No. 2, beat former Princeton High School and Bradley standout Wil Lofgren, 6-0, 6-4 in a rematch of the 2011 final.